


Spelling It Out

by flailinginlove



Series: APPROVED [2]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Fluff, M/M, excessive use of alliteration, mission report romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-14
Updated: 2017-03-14
Packaged: 2018-10-04 23:42:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,953
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10292600
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/flailinginlove/pseuds/flailinginlove
Summary: Considering the way Kakashi had asked him out, Iruka didn't expect traditional declarations of love.





	

**Author's Note:**

> I'm so happy with the response to Submitted for Approval! Thank you so much to everyone who has commented or left kudos on it. I hope you enjoy this even half as much. ♥

The tokubetsu jounin in front of Iruka was grinning in a self-satisfied manner that made Iruka instantly wary of what he might find in the man's mission report. Setsugaki's reports weren't the worst Iruka had ever seen, that award went to Kakashi with no real competition, but his notoriously bad handwriting placed him quite firmly in the top ten. 

A few slips of paper fluttered out of the report as Iruka opened it. He didn't even need to look closer at them to know what they were. Tickets for free bowls of ramen at Ichiraku's. This wasn't the first time someone had tried to slip them into their report. 

Irritation was making the blood rush in Iruka's head as he tried to keep himself from yelling. Instead he grabbed a blank form from the pile they kept at the Desk and held out it, the mission report, and the coupons. The shinobi blinked at Iruka, his face making it clear he couldn't believe his plan wasn't working.

"You seem to have forgotten the proper method for attaching additional materials to your reports, Setsugaki-san," Iruka said, voice sharp with warning. "There is a remedial class on report writing at the Academy next weekend, shall I add your name to the list of students?" There was nothing but threat in Iruka's smile.

Setsugaki shook his head, quickly grabbing the paperwork from Iruka and all but running out of the room. That was one less shinobi who'd try to bribe him into taking substandard reports, Iruka thought, but he wasn't naive enough to believe it'd be the last time it happened.

It was all Kakashi's fault, really. Iruka had thought that once they started dating, Kakashi would stop hiding secret messages in the reports he turned in while Iruka was working, but he had been wrong. Kakashi had been handing him a steady stream of secret messages ever since their first date. He never did it for high level missions, but the C and D-rank missions usually got something hidden in them. They'd become the highlights of Iruka's shifts, little pieces of Kakashi's particular brand of crazy to look forward to in the midst of all the otherwise boring paperwork.

The thing Iruka hadn't realized until later was that Kakashi's newly found ability to properly fill out a form was Iruka-exclusive. His reports for everyone else were the same as they had always been: a complete mess. 

By the time Iruka had figured that out, it was too late to do damage control. Everyone already thought Kakashi had bribed him to take his reports without comment, which had led to a string of the worst offenders trying to do the same. Free ramen coupons seemed to be the most popular choice.

It would be fairly easy to clarify things, he just needed to show Kakashi's reports to the rest of the Mission Desk workers, but he could never bring himself to do that, too worried they'd notice the messages. If he could figure them all out, anyone could, and he didn't want to explain why the only four misspelled words in an otherwise perfect report asked "yuor palce ro mnie?" 

Kakashi kept things interesting, switching up the way he left the messages every so often. He liked keeping Iruka on his toes. But no matter the method, they were all still obvious for anyone with even the most basic training in decoding and decrypting, which every single shinobi over the age of 10 had. 

In his most recent reports, Kakashi had been on a spelling kick. The first one had spelled out "hi sexy" with the first letter of each sentence of the Additional Notes. Another one, after a week long mission, had spelled out "missed you." And then Kakashi had upped the ante with his next report. In a spectacular effort, the first letter of every single sentence in the report had spelled out "I've been thinking about your mouth all day." Iruka had blushed for the rest of his shift after that one, but when his shift was over, he still went home and gave Kakashi more to think about.

There was only an hour left in Iruka's shift when he saw Kakashi towards the back of his line. He fought back a smile as he dealt with the shinobi in front of him. 

When it was Kakashi's turn, his hand brush against Iruka's as he passed over his report. Iruka opened the report, distracting himself from the warmth of Kakashi's skin against his own. There would be plenty of time for that later in the evening.

Iruka skimmed through the report, checking to make sure everything was in order. It had been a fairly standard C-rank mission, but when he got to the Additional Notes, the report became almost painful to read.

Additional Notes: Initially, our informant instructed   
us to investigate incidents of illegal interactions that   
were inciting increased instability in the institution's   
infrastructure. Immediately our interviews indicated   
that inhabitants of the island were infected by insanity-  
inducing insects. We injected these individuals with   
an immunization to inoculate them from the intensely   
immoral and irresponsible impulses induced by the   
invertebrates. Indeed, our investigation included   
innumerable, interesting insights.

Someone had obviously been bored on the way home from the mission, Iruka thought, head spinning a little at the sheer number of I words. Bored, or infected by insanity-inducing insects. Maybe he'd need to keep an eye on Kakashi over the next few days just to be sure.

It was still far from the worst thing Kakashi had ever done with the rules of grammar and logic and other than the overuse of words that start with I, he couldn't find any hidden messages, so Iruka stamped it **APPROVED** and put it aside to file later. 

He looked up, just the hint of a smirk tugging at his lips. Kakashi would read it as the invitation it was. _My place after my shift?_

Kakashi gave a subtle nod before he left. _See you there._

~*~*~

Kakashi didn't mention the report that week and his behavior wasn't particularly insane, or at least no more than usual. Iruka had almost forgotten about it until Kakashi was handing over another lower ranked mission report, watching Iruka closely as he did so. Iruka read through it, once again caught off guard by the final section.

Additional Notes: Leading the Lady to her lands   
was largely lacking in labor, letting us look at lush   
landscapes and luxuriate in lengthy lunchtimes.   
Luckily, lasting learning lay in the leisure. The   
Land's literature and lore lionized lives of laughter,   
loyalty, and love. These legends lend luminous,   
limitless lessons.

Iruka had never read an Icha Icha book, but he had a sneaking suspicion this was how they were written. He blinked, suddenly remembering the I filled report. An idea was starting to form in his mind, but he wasn't quite ready to believe it. Was Kakashi doing what he thought he was doing? He told himself he was probably just reading too much into it.

But Kakashi's next report just made that idea grow stronger with an Additional Notes that started with the sentence _Our operation overcame obvious obstacles while obtaining our original objective_. A few days after that, the report from a D-rank clean up mission had the idea jumping up and down in an attempt to get Iruka to acknowledge it after he started reading about Kakashi's team valiantly vanquishing all the vile vermin in a village. The jumping up and down turned into back flips and cartwheels when a fifth report had explained how Kakashi's team had effectively enameled everything in an establishment with energy and enthusiasm to enormous effect for their employer's enjoyment.

Iruka found himself buzzing with anticipation as he waited for the next report. It had already been multiple weeks since the first report and Iruka was getting impatient. He was a little afraid the next report would have a bunch of words starting with I again, followed by one with Cs, then Hs, As, and then those four being repeated. He knew he had been sending Kakashi searching looks over the last week, not that it had helped any. But Kakashi had been out on a D-rank mission with his team that day, and he was due back that evening, most likely coming in just before the end of Iruka's shift like he usually did. 

The shift stretched out long in front of Iruka and he tried not to take it out on shinobi who just wanted to get paid for their missions. It wasn't their fault Iruka was having a hard time focusing on anything that wasn't Kakashi's next report. Ink stains, mud, and illegible handwriting on the other hand were all their fault and Iruka let them know that.

When Kakashi did show up, a half an hour before the end of his shift, Iruka had to force himself to focus on the shinobi between them, but even then he was fairly sure he just approved two reports that normally would have gotten at least a gentle warning in any other situation. Gentle by Iruka's standards, at least. 

And then Kakashi was finally turning in his report, hand brushing against Iruka's in a gesture that had become a well-worn habit in the last few months. Iruka could hear his own heart beating in his ears as he opened the report, his eyes immediately jumping to the bottom.

Additional Notes: Yesterday, youthful yearning   
for the yonder yielded yelling. To offset these   
outcries of oppression, an outing was offered and an   
out-of-town objective was obtained. Unfortunately,   
uprooting underbrush was unappreciated by the   
underlings.

Iruka couldn't help the happy smile that spread across his face. He knew he was blushing bright red, but didn't care. Kakashi was blushing too, just a hint of it showing above his mask and on his ears. Iruka approved the report with flourish.

~*~*~

Iruka wasn't sure if Kakashi would ever work up to saying it out loud, but that didn't stop him from whispering _I love you too_ when they were in bed together later that night. He felt Kakashi's smile against his shoulder.

It might not be the normal way people did things like this, but he had realized months ago that normal was highly overrated. He'd take Kakashi's quirks over normal any day.

~*~*~

~Bonus Scene~

Kakashi knew most people considered him a genius but there were some things even he wasn't able or craziness enough to do. He waited impatiently outside of Tsunade's office. Only she could help him now.

He had thought long and hard about how he was going to make this work, but as much as he had tried, it just wasn't happening. Writing multiple sentences using mainly Y words was just not possible unless he had good source material.

"What do you want now?" she asked as he was finally let into her office.

"Are there any missions involving yoga? Or yodeling? Or both?"

Tsunade had never looked more unimpressed with him than she did at that moment.

He tried a different approach. "I'd like to hire myself for a mission searching for yogis who yodel? On yachts?"

She looked at him with a completely blank face for a full minute until he started to sweat. Finally she broke the silence.

"Sounds like a dangerous mission, probably S-rank. Shall I start the paperwork?"

He paled and excused himself quickly, that wouldn't work at all. S-rank mission reports were reviewed by more people than just the Mission Desk workers. A lot more, including Tsunade herself. 

After a moment of thought, he decided he had stretched this out long enough, he'd just do the last three letters all at once.

~*~*~

**Author's Note:**

> Seriously, that last report was maddening to write. There really needs to be more Y words in the world. ^__^;;
> 
> Also, decided to have fun naming the OC, because if you can't name your OCs stupid things in a Naruto fic, where can you? My Japanese sucks and I'm just messing around here, but his name is Setsugaki Chiru (拙書チル). Setsu from 拙い (tsutanai - unskillful, poor, clumsy), gaki from 書く (kaku - to write), and Chiru from 散る (chiru - to scatter, to fall) and 散らかっている (chirakatte iru – disorderly, untidy). So he is MessyFall McBadWriting. He had no chance whatsoever at writing a good report. XD Setsugaki is not a normal family name, but in the Edo period Dutch and Chinese ships had to file reports called fuu-setsugaki (very different kanji though), so that seemed to work nicely.  
> TL;DR – I'm a geek, sorry. ^__^;;
> 
> Comments (and kudos) certainly cause celebration and complete contentment! ;)
> 
> You can also hit me up on [tumblr](http://flailinginlove.tumblr.com/) if you have questions/comments you don't want to post here. :)
> 
> Thank you for reading! ♥


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